Equality State Policy Center

Background

The Equality State Policy Center was granted tax-exempt status in 1995, and as of 2025, the group’s primary focus centered around promoting left-of-center election administration policies and opposing Republican-led election integrity laws in Wyoming. The group operates educational programming, analyzes proposed policies in the state, and partners with other organizations, including Wyoming Tax Facts, on fiscal policy issues. The group’s SHAPE WY initiative is an annual event that conducts “citizen lobbyist training” to encourage individuals to advocate before the Wyoming Legislature. The group also recruits left-of-center and Democratic-aligned candidates for public office through its RUN WY program, which the group calls a “nonpartisan training for campaign managers and candidates for public office to learn the basics of becoming a candidate and the skills to effectively run a candidate campaign in the state of Wyoming.” ²

In 2022, the group launched the Chair project “with the mission of increasing civic engagement and voter education within Hispanic and Latino communities across Wyoming.” ²

The group is also connected to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wyoming, and operated a voter hotline in conjunction with the Wyoming ACLU during the 2018 elections. ³

Activities

Challenge to Proof of Citizenship Election Law

In May 2025, the Equality State Policy Center filed a lawsuit in federal court in Wyoming asking the court to block House Bill 156, set to take effect July 1, 2025, which requires individuals to provide proof of citizenship and 30 days of Wyoming residency to register to vote in the state. The law also disallows registering to vote by using any documentation that shows the person is not a U.S. citizen. The center argued that the laws risked disenfranchising individuals including “Women whose new married or divorced names might not reflect their identifying documents”; “Transgender people in a similar plight from changing their names”; “Hispanic people who are eligible to vote but may struggle with the documentation”; and “People who lack stable housing.” ⁴

The suit was filed by the Equality State Policy Center’s attorney Darold Killmer of Denver-based Killmer Lane LLP, and asked the court to block Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (R) and the state’s county clerks from enforcing the law. ⁴

Gray called the challenge an attack by the “radical left” and stated that “This lawsuit shows how far the radical left is willing to go to try to stop election integrity,” adding that “The far-left’s lawsuit is a meritless attempt to undermine the commonsense election integrity measures Wyomingites want.” The lawsuit repeatedly criticized Gray for statements supporting HB 156 and other measures while Secretary of State and during his prior service in the state legislature. ⁴

The Elias Law Group, a Democratic Party-aligned election law firm run by attorney Marc Elias, was also involved in the case. ⁵